Justice News

U.S. Attorney Fein Announces Resignation

New Haven, Conn. – United States Attorney David B. Fein, 52, has announced his resignation, effective May 13, 2013, and his intention to return to the private sector.

Mr. Fein was appointed by President Obama and sworn in as the 50th U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut on May 10, 2010. As U.S. Attorney, Mr. Fein created the Connecticut Securities, Commodities and Investor Fraud Task Force, a multi-agency task force focused on matters related to investor fraud, Ponzi schemes, insider trading, FCPA and other financial crimes. He also initiated Project Longevity, a new state-wide anti-violence initiative aimed at reducing gun and gang violence.

“It has been an honor to serve as United States Attorney and to work alongside the fine women and men of this Office and of our partner federal, state and local law enforcement agencies as we serve the people of Connecticut and the country,” said U.S. Attorney Fein. “Personally, it is the right time for me and my family that I move on, but I do so humbly and profoundly grateful for the trust placed in me by the President and the Attorney General.”

As U.S. Attorney, Mr. Fein restructured the Office’s Criminal Division. Previously organized geographically, the Office’s Criminal Division was restructured so that it comprises three program-based units: National Security and Major Crimes, Violent Crimes and Narcotics, and Financial Fraud and Public Corruption.

Significant recent enforcement matters for the National Security and Major Crimes Unit include the extradition of Babar Ahmad and Syed Talha Ahsan, both British citizens who have been charged with terrorism-related offenses; the disabling of a network of hundreds of thousands of computers infected with a malicious software program known as Coreflood, which was the most complete and comprehensive enforcement action ever taken by U.S authorities to disable an international botnet; the prosecution of Hector Natal, who earlier this month was found guilty of committing the March 2011 New Haven arson that killed three individuals, including an 8-year-old boy; the prosecution of a Canadian subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation for violating the Arms Export Control Act in connection with its illegal export to China of U.S.-origin military software used in the development of China’s first modern military attack helicopter; and more than 60 child exploitation matters, including the prosecution of Douglas Perlitz, who was sentenced to more than 19 years in prison for sexually abusing several minor victims over the course of a decade in Haiti, Edgardo Sensi, who was sentenced to 85 years of imprisonment for sexual abusing minor girls in the U.S. and Nicaragua, and Jesse Osmun, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison for sexually abusing young girls while he was a volunteer with the U.S. Peace Corps in South Africa.

The Violent Crimes and Narcotics Unit has focused on dismantling large-scale drug trafficking organizations, prosecuting gang and gun violence, and enforcement actions against prescription drug trafficking. Significant prosecutions include Bridgeport drug trafficker Azibo Aquart and his associates, who were convicted of brutally murdering three Bridgeport residents in August 2005; twenty individuals, including TSA and law enforcement officers, who were involved in a conspiracy to traffic oxycodone from Florida to Connecticut; Operation Bloodline, which targeted narcotics trafficking and gang violence in New Haven and resulted in charges against more than 100 individuals; and the recent arrest on federal and state charges of more than 100 individuals who were allegedly involved in the large-scale trafficking of heroin and cocaine from the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico into and around southeastern Connecticut.

Priority enforcement matters out of the Financial Fraud and Public Corruption Unit include the prosecution of numerous individuals who engaged in investor fraud, including hedge fund manager Francisco Illarramendi who defrauded investors and creditors of hundreds of millions of dollars, which is the largest financial fraud case ever prosecuted in the District of Connecticut; the prosecution of dozens of individuals who participated in mortgage fraud schemes that preceded the real estate market crisis; and the investigation and prosecution of “Roll Your Own” smoke shop operators and others who were involved in a scheme to direct illegal contributions into the campaign of a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Office’s Civil Division recently negotiated a resolution to its civil enforcement action, which alleged racial profiling and civil rights abuses by members of the East Haven Police Department. The settlement agreement covers comprehensive reforms in seven core areas of policing and put in place an independent monitor.

In 2012, Mr. Fein was appointed Vice Chair of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee’s White-Collar Crime Subcommittee, where he and his colleagues developed the Justice Department’s Investor Fraud Initiative, which featured six regional summits, including the Northeast Regional Summit held in Stamford in October 2012. In addition, Mr. Fein convened public conferences in Connecticut on Civil Rights, Human Trafficking, Prescription Drug Abuse, and Violent Crime, and a public ceremony honoring Connecticut’s First Responders on the Tenth Anniversary of 9/11.

Prior to his appointment as United States Attorney, Mr. Fein was a partner at the law firm of Wiggin and Dana, where he co-chaired the firm’s White-Collar Defense, Investigations and Corporate Compliance Practice Group and served on the firm’s Executive Committee. From 1999 to 2010, Mr. Fein was Visiting Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School, where he created and co-taught a class on federal criminal investigations and prosecution. Previously, Mr. Fein served as an Associate White House Counsel from 1995 to 1996, where his portfolio included anti-crime initiatives, communications issues, the proposed victims’ rights constitutional amendment, and the Administration’s regulation to combat underage use of tobacco. From 1989 to 1995, Mr. Fein was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, serving as Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division from 1993 to 1994 and Counsel to the United States Attorney from 1994 to 1995. From 1986 to 1989, Mr. Fein was an associate at Debevoise and Plimpton. He served as a law clerk for the Honorable Frank M. Coffin of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit from 1985 to 1986. Mr. Fein graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College in 1982 and the New York University School of Law in 1985, where he was Order of the Coif and a member of the Senior Board of the N.Y.U. Law Review.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut is charged with enforcing federal criminal laws in Connecticut, and with representing the federal government in civil litigation in the District. The Office employs approximately 64 Assistant United States Attorneys, 45 staff members and 13 contractors at offices in New Haven, Hartford and Bridgeport.